Monthly Archives: August 2014

A friend of mine, Eva Ruland, who teaches Soul Collage, a wonderful way to spend some time tapping in to your deeper self and into your creativity, posted this beautiful poem on her monthly newsletter. I want to share it with you.

The jewel has been lost in matter
and everybody is looking for it.
Some look for it in the east
and some in the west,
some in water
and some among stones.
But the servant Kabir
has found its value
and has it wrapped with care
in the seam of the mantle of his heart.

Because of the way solid tumors adapt the body’s machinery to bring themselves more oxygen, chemotherapy and radiation may actually make these tumors stronger. “In a sense, these therapies can make the tumor healthier,” said Mark W. Dewhirst, D.V.M., Ph.D., professor of radiation oncology at Duke University Medical Center.

“Unless the treatment is very effective in killing many if not most tumor cells, you are shooting yourself in the foot.”

Dewhirst and colleagues Yiting Cao, M.D., Ph.D., of Duke Pathology, and Benjamin Moeller, M.D., Ph.D. have introduced this counter-intuitive idea at recent conferences and in a review article featured in the June issue of Nature Reviews Cancer.

Radiation and chemotherapy do kill most solid tumor cells, but in the cells that survive, the therapies drive an increase in a regulatory factor called HIF1 (hypoxia-inducible factor 1), which cells use to get the oxygen they need by increasing blood vessel growth into the tumor. Solid tumors generally have low supplies of oxygen, Dewhirst explained and HIF1 helps them get the oxygen they need.

The review article concludes that blocking HIF1 would provide a clear mechanism for killing solid-tumor cells, particularly cells that are proving resistant to radiation or chemotherapy treatments.

As a part of this work, Dewhirst’s team has been studying the phenomenon of rising and falling oxygen levels in tumors, called cycling hypoxia. Oxygen levels have been found to naturally cycle up and down in individual blood vessels as well as large tumor regions. This instability in the tumor’s oxygen levels can increase HIF-1 production and cause radiation therapy to fail, Dewhirst said.

“It is my opinion that the whole tumor grows more aggressively because of this pulsation of oxygen at low levels,” Dewhirst said. “Most people thought cycling hypoxia was caused by temporary stoppage of blood flow in single blood vessel in tumors. In fact, however, oxygen levels cycle up and down virtually everywhere in the tumor, which is caused by fluctuations in blood flow rate. It has been a challenge to convince people of this.”

Dewhirst and colleagues have made movies of oxygen transport in a tumor of a living animal that show the oxygen levels cycle up and down significantly, pulsing in waves seen as color changes in the movies. (View these movies at the Nature Reviews Cancer site.)

The Duke team argues that blocking HIF1 is the consistent answer to tumor growth problems. Blocking HIF1 activity interferes with the tumor’s ability to undergo glycolysis (energy production) in low-oxygen conditions, which blocks tumor growth, the authors wrote. Exactly how to accomplish chemotherapy or radiation treatment in the safest, most effective ways, in combination with HIF1 blockade, is still open for exploration, Dewhirst said.

For example, targeting HIF1 in the early stages of tumor growth, especially in very early cancer spread, may help, Dewhirst said. “For a woman who has had a primary breast tumor removed, and who is at high risk for cancer spread, this might be a situation in which you’d target HIF1,” he explained. “Blocking HIF1 makes sense during the early stages of angiogenesis, which is the accelerated phase of blood vessel formation. In this way, you could keep the early metastasis sites inactive and prevent them from growing.”

There are so many acupuncture points to choose from when creating an acupuncture treatment for an individual. This article explains that the point ‘Inner Pass’ (aka Pericardium 6) is the most effective point out there. I use it in my practice many times a day. This point is located on the inner wrist where one would place a wristband to prevent motion sickness. Read on…

Of the close to 1,000 acupuncture points on the body, the point identified as PC.6 (Pericardium 6) or ‘Inner Pass’ stands out for its use in the relief of a number of health discomforts.

PC.6 is found on the inner forearm, between the two prominent tendons running between the elbow and the wrist and is located two inches above the wrist, joint. It lies on what is known as the pericardium channel/meridian, which originates in the chest and runs along the inner arm and forearm, ending on the tip of the middle finger.

Indications
In traditional Chinese medicine, it is used to:

– Alleviate nausea and vomiting
– Calm and relax
– Relieve chest pain

Nausea & Vomiting
This point is very popular for the relief of motion sickness and morning sickness symptoms in pregnant women. It is also used in cases of nausea as a side effect of chemotherapy and radiation.

Insomnia & Calm Shen
Shen refers to the spirit of a person and is an indication of mental and emotional ease. In trying to calm the shen, the intent is to restore calm and ease to the person through the stimulation of this point. PC.6 may be used alone or in combination with other acupuncture points for persons suffering from:

– Insomnia: disturbances in sleep patterns resulting from difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep or both
– Excessive agitation, restlessness and irritability: whether because of lack of good sleep, uncomfortable environmental factors, work and family pressures or a medical condition
– Stress and anxiety: whether because of work, family or a variety of life pressures.

Chest Pain Relief
It is also an effective point in the relief of a number of chest complaints, including palpitations, in which one feels as though their heart is beating too fast or too hard and chest pain.

Point Stimulation Acupuncture
One method of stimulating PC.6 is with the insertion of very thin acupuncture needles. When needled, the acupuncture needle is directed perpendicularly with a needling depth of approximately 1/2 an inch and left in for the duration of the acupuncture session.

Massage
Alternately, one can administer self-massage at this point, using slow circular motions for five minutes or more. Depending on whether you are using this point to aid sleep, relieve anxiety, chest pain or nausea and vomiting, appropriately diluted essential oils may be massaged at the point to enhance relief.

– Nausea relief oils: peppermint, orange, lime, chamomile, bergamot, anise
– Calming oils: chamomile, lavender, sandalwood, Ylang Ylang, frankincense
– In recent times, clever persons have attached a small seed (magnet or ball) on the inside of a wristband worn over the point to allow continuous stimulation of the point if needed.